Published 4:00 am, Thursday, September 17, 1998

Photo: DEANNE FITZMAURICE

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Hipbone is a co-navigational software company that allows people to explore the Net simultaneously. Three of the five co-developers of Hipbone join hipbones as in the "bump" dance in front of a Model-T which they jokingly call their company car which is parked in front of their Los Altos lab. (l tor) Charlie Graham, CTO, Jim Swanson, CEO, and Dan Rolla, VP Business Development. CHRONICLE PHOTO BY DEANNE FITZMAURICE less

Hipbone is a co-navigational software company that allows people to explore the Net simultaneously. Three of the five co-developers of Hipbone join hipbones as in the "bump" dance in front of a Model-T which ... more

One of the best-kept secrets on the Internet resides in a greenhouse tucked away in the Los Altos hills.

There, a small startup has developed free software that lets surfers "co-navigate" the Web together -- to shop, date and house hunt, for example. HipBone Software's Co-navigator allows up to 10 people throughout the world to simultaneously move from site to site.

For example, a Michigan resident recently found an apartment in San Francisco by cruising rental sites with a Bay Area friend. A bicoastal couple could plan a vacation together by surfing airline and hotel Web sites.

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"It is the next step in visual interaction," said Dan Rolla, co- founder and vice president of business development at HipBone. "Co- navigator gives people an alternative to the static nature of chat rooms. You can now explore the Web together."

Heady stuff for a startup whose initial funding came from one co- founder who won $75,000 in a Java programming competition in 1996.

The prize money gave Mark Tacchi -- who at the time worked with Rolla at NeXT Software of Redwood City -- the financial independence to realize a dream of starting a high-tech venture. Both had discussed the idea of opening a fast-food restaurant that served health food.

By mid-1997, Tacchi was on a Hawaii beach, relaxing and trying to come up with a company name. "I kept thinking of things like 'Mermaid,' " said Tacchi, HipBone's vice president of engineering. "I was drawing blanks."

It wasn't until he literally stumbled over a book on multimedia technology titled, "Mbone," that Tacchi came up with the name HipBone.

"It has many meanings: cool, joined at the hip, 'IP' (Internet protocol) is in the middle, the phrase 'the hip bone is connected to the whatever bone.' And it perfectly described the technology," he said. "I immediately went to InterNIC (the Internet service that registers domain names) and found that the Web address was not taken. I yelled, 'Yes!' "

He and Rolla soon heard "Yes" from Michael Baird, the author of "Engineering Your Start-up: A Guide for the Hi-Tech Entrepreneur," whom they had contacted for advice on writing a business plan.

Baird was so enamored with their idea that he signed on as chief financial officer in January, and the company was formed. Baird even bought a $700,000 house in Los Altos to double as company headquarters. A greenhouse in the back yard is where HipBone's five employees -- CEO Jim Swanson and Chief Technology Officer Charlie Graham joined later -- run the business.

"We're blooming something different here," Baird said.

The firm is talking with several unnamed portal companies about licensing its co-navigator technology and is likely to pursue advertising deals on its site, according to Swanson.

So far, more than 20,000 people have used the free service since it debuted last month.

Co-navigator (www.hipbone.com) is free, easy to use and does not require downloading of software.

To register as a "host," all you need to do is fill out an electronic template with your name, age, sex, ZIP code, e-mail address and favorite Jell-O flavor. (Hey, it's a quirky Silicon Valley startup.) You then are asked to type in a one-word ID.

Up to nine other people can log on as guests of a registered user to surf the Web as a group. Users communicate through a separate instant-messaging service, which is widely available and free.

Be warned, however: HipBone is not yet Mac compatible and it requires versions 4.0 or higher of either Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Communicator.

So far, consumers who have used HipBone's product like what they see.

"My friend Mark in Washington, D.C., goes shopping for freeware with me online about 12 hours a week," said Barbara Ciampo, 35, of Alton, N.H. "When one of us finds an interesting site, we go hipping (short for HipBone) together."

Lloyd Colston, a social worker and writer in Pryor, Okla., plans to use HipBone to teach monthly classes on how to surf online (pryoronline.com).

Tacchi himself planned a date using HipBone.

He and his date went online to choose a movie ("The Truman Show," starring Jim Carrey) and a restaurant for dinner. Later, they co-navigated movie sites for more information on Carrey.

"This will fundamentally change the way people use the Web," Rolla said. "Surfing the Web will no longer be a lonely experience. People can now surf the Web together."

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